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THE SMART NEWS SOURCE | Feb 10 2010 08:02 | LAST UPDATED Feb 10 2010 08:02 |
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Mark Thatcher may never be prosecuted in the United Kingdom for his role in the failed coup in Equatorial Guinea, say senior British law enforcement sources. Scotland Yard detectives are engaged in a "serious and protracted inquiry" into allegations that, at meetings in London in late 2003 and early 2004, Thatcher, British mercenary Simon Mann and others orchestrated the attempt to oust Equatorial Guinea's president. According to the former prosecutor in Equatorial Guinea, detectives from the counter-terrorism command at Scotland Yard visited Mann in prison five times. He is said to have cooperated fully. The evidence relating to Thatcher's alleged involvement in the coup is believed to be held in testimonies given to Yard officers by Mann and in documents handed to British police by Equatorial Guinea and held by officials in South Africa. But as Thatcher has already been convicted in South Africa of paying for a helicopter he suspected might be used for mercenary activity, the likelihood that he could be prosecuted in the UK on the same evidence for a similar offence is slim, say senior legal and police sources. The sources indicated that the inquiry was hindered by concerns about double jeopardy because of his South African conviction, despite the fact that this took place in a different jurisdiction. Thatcher was first implicated in the coup attempt in a letter written by Mann and intercepted by the South African police while he was being held in Harare, after his arrest following the failed plot in 2004. Written to his wife in Cape Town, it requested money from the alleged coup financiers, "Scratcher", his nickname for Thatcher, and "Smelly", a nickname for the Lebanese-born businessman Ely Calil. Thatcher and Calil deny involvement in the coup attempt. Other evidence that could be used against Thatcher is the testimony of Crause Steyl, a South African mercenary pilot who was on the plane on the night of the coup. He was never arrested and returned to South Africa, where he struck a deal with the authorities and told them everything he knew. According to Adam Roberts, author of The Wonga Coup, rumours about Thatcher's involvement had been swirling for some time, but with Steyl's plea bargain evidence, the South Africans arrested Thatcher in a move watched with disbelief by the world's media.  CONTINUES BELOW Initially Thatcher told the authorities he had thought the £288 000 (about R3,5-million) was to be used to fund an air ambulance for Africa's poor. But he accepted that at some point before the coup attempt he suspected the helicopter might be used for a mercenary plot. Thatcher was convicted in January 2005, fined £266 000 (about R3,25-million) and given a four-year suspended sentence. He left South Africa shortly afterwards. The third plank of evidence that could be used against him is Mann's testimony in interviews with Scotland Yard detectives, who visited him in Black Beach prison after his trial ended in Equatorial Guinea last July. Mann implicated Thatcher, as he had done at his trial, when he said Thatcher was "not just an investor. He came on board completely and became part of the management team." But the statements Mann made in Equatorial Guinea are tainted by the threat of ill-treatment or even death in prison. Equatorial Guinea is still seeking to see Thatcher in court. -- © Guardian News & Media 2009 TOPICS IN THIS ARTICLE
Comments
What an arrogant man Thatcher is, just like his mother!
Megan Holden on November 13, 2009, 11:27 am
Selective justice, where is the DA? They always refer to 'international ...or that...!Will they comment on this issue or ask Mark be brought to book and a retrial like with Zuma? No they will not. Why ? They have the same masters and he is their colour!There is no fairness with DA.Slave masters,will use you like che-gum and throw you away.Colonisors in our mist!
Thanduxolo Jika on November 13, 2009, 8:03 pm
What's the DA got to do with this; he is protected by his mother Dame Margaret Thatcher ex Conservative Leader in Britian. He was kicked out of SA!!!
Megan Holden on November 16, 2009, 6:59 pm
it would be NICE of the DA to make a noise about how EASILY Mark Thatcher was let off the hook by the authorities in SA! That it is quite smacks of RACISM, but then again, NO surprises there!!! DA are white imperialist!!!!
yu4me myself on November 23, 2009, 2:01 am
The issue here has very little to do with ricism and we STOP unsing the race card to promote unbecoming behaviour like what happen with Mr. Zuma. Look it is so embarrasing to here Zuma speaking about corruption while he forgot he could not have his day in court.
For Mark as long as there is inequality in the globe, the rich will alway get away with murder.
Moffet mabelane on November 23, 2009, 1:07 pm
What beats me are these enquiries that Western Nations do to investigate themselves to silence everybody from doing thorough investigations. Why Scotland Yard? Why not the International Court of Justice? Are we surprised then that Mann is already out of prison or Mark Thatcher's prosecution was just tokenistic?
Chimwala Guta on December 31, 2009, 7:52 am
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